USA > Indiana > Early Indiana trials: and sketches. Reminiscences > Part 36
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Mr. Clay had concluded to resign his seat in the Senate, and retire for the balance of his days to his own Ashland : the day of the resig- nation was fixed, at which he would deliver his farewell address to the Senate. The day arrived, hefore the hour the Senators were all in their seats, the aisles, side seats and galleries crowded. The time had come, Mr. Clay rose from his seat, on the outside circle, near the south-east end, calmly, and without even his usual gestures, delivered a most thrilling and affecting farewell address to the body, taking leave of the Senate, and of public life forever. The immense audience were as silent as death, many manly cheeks were suffused with tears. Mr. Clay took his seat, Senators from all parts of the chamher, without regard to politics, gathered around him, and for the last time grasped his extended hand. Thus retired from the service of his country, one of her noble patriots, after having devoted his long and valuable life at home and abroad, to sustain her honor and promote her glory, breathing with his parting words nothing but kindness to all the Senators with whom he had been so long associated, -" May the blessings of Heaven rest upon the heads of the whole Senate, and every member of it; and may every member of it advance still more in favor, and when they shall retire to the bosom of their respective constituencies, may they all meet there that most joyous and grateful of all human rewards, the exclamation of their country- men, ' Well done, thou good and faithful servant.' Mr. President and Messrs. Senators, I bid you, one and all, a long, a last, a friend- ly farewell." A few years after the coffin that contained the remains of Henry Clay was seen silently and solemnly nroving from the Na- tional Hotel at Washington city, on its way to his own Kentucky, that he loved so well ; where he now sleeps. Peace to his Manes.
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HENRY S. LANE.
HENRY S. LANE.
LONG before the campaign of 1840, the subject of this sketeh had become distinguished among the first men in the State of Indiana, both as a lawyer and statesman. In that campaign, however, he rose still higher as a public speaker. Mr. Lane served his eonnty in the State Legislature, and afterward his distriet in Congress, with signal ability. His mind was of a high order, and his eloquence of the nervous, direct, impassioned character. He held his audience spell-bound by his powers. His speeches were always too short for his hearers, although often too long for his voice, which was never strong. He was always listened to with great attention, and impressed himself strongly upon his audience.
Mr. Lane was a warm, devoted friend of Henry Clay, personal and politieal ; as he was of Gen. Harrison, after he became the standard- bearer of the Whig party. No man rendered greater services to his party, in the presidential campaigns of 1840, and subsequently, than Mr. Lane. He presided over the convention that nominated John C. Fremont, as the Republican candidate against Mr. Buchanan. In person, Mr. Lane was tall and slim, light hair, gray eyes, large fore- head, sunken month, thin lips, long arms, slim, long fingers. While in Congress he made many characteristic speeches, well remembered by those who served with him. Among them, was one in reply to the attack of Judge Dean of Ohio, on Gen. Harrison, which I have not been able to find. I give, however, an extraet from another of his Congressional speeches, to show his style and spirit :
" MR. CHAIRMAN :- I regret very much the necessity which imposes upon me the duty of addressing the committee at this time. It is known to you and to this House, that I very rarely trespass upon its time and attention ; but the very singular character of the debate upon this bill, and the magnitude and importance of the subjects embraced in it, will, I trust, afford an ample apology for me. The present alarm- ing crisis in our financial affairs, is well ealeulated to fill the mind of every true patriot with gloom and apprehension. Our National Treas- ury is bankrupt, our national eredit and honor prostrate, the States of this Union borne to the earth by an enormous load of debt; the people every where eursed with a rotten and vitiated eurreney, and threatened with bankruptey and ruin ; the annual revennes of the Gov- ernment insufficient by many millions of dollars, to meet its ordinary expenses under the most rigid system of economy consistent with the publie interest. Sir, in the present condition of National, State and individual embarrassment and distress, let us pause and ealmly look
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back upon the history of the past, for the canses which have produced such mighty and disastrous effects.
" But a few short years ago we had an overflowing Treasury, the best curreney known to the world-every home was filled with comfort and plenty, every heart with joy and gladness. Why is it that your Treas- ury is empty ? Why is it that this Congress is now laying the founda- tions of a great National Debt? The reasons for the present deficit in our revenue are many and obvious ; a few of which I shall attempt to enumerate. It has become a part of the history of the country, and is known to the whole world, that Mr. Van Buren's administra- tion expended annually about $8,000,000 over and above the annual revenues of the nation ; that that administration, after expending a large surplus which they found in the Treasury, and after availing themselves of every means of revenue within their power, temporary and permanent, were hurled from place and power by the people for their extravagance, profligacy and corruption, leaving a debt to be dis- charged by their successors of about $16,000,000; that they, instead of laying a tariff of duties sufficiently high to meet the wants of the Government and discharge its debts, resorted to the miserable policy of issuing Treasury notes, for the double purpose of relieving their present wants, and at the same time hoodwinking and deceiving the people as to the true condition of the Treasury, and concealing as far as they could, the evidence of their waste and extravagance. If the party lately in power, had had the wisdom, patriotism and moral cour- age to have passed a proper revenue-bill at the proper time, and to have curtailed their expenditures within reasonable limits, we should not be laboring under those evils which curse and afflict our common country. The currency of a country must always be most intimately connected with its credit and prosperity. I shall not detain you, Mr. Chairman, by going into a history of those measures by which the currency was reduced to its present deplorable condition ; it is enough for my present purpose to say, that the Bank of the United States furnished the people with a sound curreney of uniform value, every where conversible into gold and silver; that the people were satisfied with their currency ; that the Bank was popular; but Gen. Jackson, in the fullness of his power, and in the pride of his overshadowing popularity, willed its destruction, and it was destroyed. The Demo- eratie party then determined that State banks should furnish the only paper currency for the people, and through their instrumentality the State bank system was fastened upon the country ; and the evils and abuses of that system, have been the fruitful source of countless and untold calamities.
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" So much, Mr. Chairman, for the ageney of our Democratic friends in producing the present state of things. Differ as we may, Mr. Chairman, as to the causes of our bankruptey, and utter prostration of confidence and credit, the fact at least is undeniable and confessed that the Government needs, and the public service imperionsly demands, all the money provided for in this loan bill. At the extra session, we passed a law authorizing a loan of $12,000,000. $5,500, 000 of that loan was negociated; the balance, owing to the state of the money market and to the terms of the loan, was not negociated. The bill now before us proposes to extend the time of the original loan, and restricts the Secretary of the Treasury from selling any of the bonds issued under this bill at less than par value. The amend- ment of the gentleman from Virginia, now under consideration, requires the Secretary to redeem those bonds so soon as they shall depreciate below par in the market. The gentleman doubtless, intends by this amendment to keep the bonds from depreciation ; but, Mr. Chairman, how can the amendment effect that object ? On what basis rests private and public, national and individual credit ? Upon the twofold foundation of the will and ability of the debtor to pay the debt. And what evidence, let me ask you, do we give by the proposed amendment of our ability to pay this loan ? We anticipate a deprecia- tion of our bonds, and legislate with an eye to that event. The amend- ment, if adopted, is an open annunciation to the whole world that we ourselves distrust our own solvency and our own credit. How that is to prevent a depreciation of our stocks passes my ability to comprehend.
" But, Mr. Chairman, how does this amendment affect the question of our willingness to pay? What will capitalists say of the honesty and morality of the amendment? We propose first to sell our bonds at par, or to pay them to the creditors of the Government at par, and then to authorize and require the Secretary of the Treasury to enter the stock market, and compete with brokers, shylocks and shavers, for the purchase of our bonds at any rate of discount which they may bear. What are the pledges of security which we can give to lenders for the payment of our bonds? First, the vast and inexhanstible sources of wealth and power contained in our country , and secondly, an open, honest and consistent course of legislative action-any departure from which must impair rather than strengthen our credit. But we are told, that in order to sell our bonds at par, and to retain their par value, we must set apart and pledge a specific fund for their payment. Is this necessary? Let the experience of the past answer. What security did we give our ereditors for the immense debts of the Revolution and the last war? What security did we give for the
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redemption of the vast amount of Treasury notes, we from time to time have issued ? The highest security which man can give or ask- the plighted faith and honor of this great nation. Yet no specific fund was pledged for these debts. But in the very act of borrowing, do we not pledge all our means of payment until the obligation is discharged ? The President in his last message to us, says, that a want of confidence is the great evil under which we labor. This is true. And before I resume my seat, I shall endeavor to show who it is that has inflicted the fatal stab upon the character and credit of the nation. Sir, let the President respond to the ealls of a suffering country ; let him cast off those evil advisers who darken his mind with adulation and flattery, and poison his heart with envy and malice ; let him carry out faithfully, the principles upon which he was elected ; let him return again to his first love ; in a word, let him become an hon- est politician-and then, neither he nor the country will have cause to complain of the want of public credit. But how is it possible that capitalists and foreigners can confide in him in whom no one trusts- in him in whom ninety-nine hundreths of the whole nation, place no reliance ? What! trust in him who has shown himself so unworthy of political station-so recreant to all public confidence! The idea is absurd and ridiculous.
"I now come, Mr. Chairman, to the charges made upon the Whig majority in Congress, as well by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wise) as by the hired and prostituted presses in the interest of the Administration, from one extremity of the Republic to the other. What are those charges ? We are told that the majority in Congress factiously oppose every measure and recommendation emanating from the President, regardless of the welfare of the country; that the Whigs have determined to pass no measure of relief lest Mr. Tyler shall get the credit of it; that we are deaf to the cry of distress which comes up to us from every quarter of the land; that we are legislating with the view and for the object of advancing the interests of Mr. Clay, and securing his election to the Presidency ; that we are the do-nothing Congress. Sir, a sense of duty to myself, to my con- stituents, to my country, to the cause of truth, justice, and patriotism, impels me, upon this occasion, to show the utter groundlessness of these charges, and once for all, to disavow the base, groveling, and unworthy motives, so unjustly attributed to myself and to those with whom I act. I regret alike the charge and the motives which prompted it. What has been the course of the Executive since his coming into power, and what has been the conduct of the Whig ma- jority in Congress ? Let us go back to the history of the extra ses-
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sion. Mr. Tyler, in his first message to Congress, hints most une- quivocally that the extra session was no measure of his, and that he was opposed to it, and in no wise responsible for its success. He speaks in that message of a bank so mysteriously, that almost every one who read it put a different construction upon his language. In that message he holds the veto power in terrorem over the indepen- dent action of Congress. But the Whig party, mindful of the objects for which they had been convened, and intent solely upon advancing the great interests of the nation, set about the improvement and the correction of the disorders of the currency, and the replenishing of the Treasury of the nation. Mr. Clay introduced a bank bill in the Senate, and it was soon understood that the President was giving out his dark hints and innuendoes against the bill. The friends of the country became alarmed, and, in order to avert a veto, the celebrated compromise section was introduced and passed by the Whig Senators. Thus they, for the purpose of conciliation, gave up and abandoned their long cherished principles, yielded what they believed to be the true construction of the Federal Constitution, and waived what they believed to be their undoubted power under the Constitution-the right to establish a bank to operate . per se all over the Union.' This concession, it was understood and believed by all, would satisfy the President and secure his sanction to the bill. The Whigs understood him as being fully committed to the measure. The bill was passed and sent to him for his approval, and he, in the arrogance of his nature, in the intoxication of his aecidental power, vetoes the meas- ure. Why ? Because it bore the impress of the giant intelleet and lofty patriotism of the great Kentuckian, Ilenry Clay. In him he recognized the fearless champion of truth, the noble advocate of lib- erty, the idol of his party, the pride and hope of his country. It was enough that the bill originated with Mr. Clay to insure the Presi- dent's opposition.
" Base envy withers at another's joy, And hates that excellence it can not reach."
"Thus we see that the President, impelled by hatred and envy of Mr. Clay, and prompted by the restless demon of his unholy ambi- tion, defeated that first great measure of relief, proposed and passed by a Whig Congress. The Whigs then, although deceived and betrayed by their President, and stabbed 'in the house of their friends,' were unwilling to adjourn without another effort to carry ont the great objects for which they had met. Another bank charter was proposed, framed expressly with the view of securing his approval, and to which his sanction, after a full and explicit knowledge of all
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its provisions, was most unequivocally pledged, not only to his Cabi- net, but to members of this House and of the Senate. That bill was also vetoed by the President, thereby fixing upon his character the double stain of hypocrisy and treachery ! In view of all these facts, I ask the country to decide who has defeated all measures of relief, the Whig Congress or the President ? After the last veto, five out of six of his Cabinet advisers, feeling that a longer association with him could add nothing to the interests of the nation, or to their own personal character-that . his touch was pollution, his contact death ' -abandoned him; and notwithstanding all the persecution, and all the calumny which has been heaped upon that retiring Cabinet, they, by that retirement, gave an instance of lofty, devoted, and self- sacrificing patriotism, unsurpassed in the annals of man. One mem- ber of that Cabinet is soon to take his seat as a Senator from the proud and patriotic State of his nativity ; another most worthily and ably represents a portion of the Empire State upon the floor of this House. They all were followed into retirement by the gratitude and blessings of thousands ; their tombs in after times shall be shrines for the pilgrimage of freedom's votaries, and upon their graves the future patriot shall relume the dying flame of liberty. Sir, who would not rather be one of that persecuted Cabinet than to play the automaton part of the present aceidental head of the nation ? The gentleman from Virginia says that, at the close of the extra session, the Whigs- as he styles them, the manifesto Whigs-declared war upon the Presi- dent; that the thirteen Whigs who prepared and signed that address were usurpers, by assuming to act for the whole Whig party in Con- gress, when, in fact, a majority dissented from the doctrines of that address, and that many Whigs now are sorry for their agency in rela- tion to that address. Sir, it is time that the country should know the facts in relation to the getting up of that address. At the meeting which determined upon that manifesto, between ninety and one hun- dred Whig members of Congress attended ; and if there was opposi- tion to or dissent from the facts stated in the address, surely I did not hear it, nor can I believe that it existed. And if there be one Whig upon this floor who attended that meeting, who disapproves what was there done, I ask, demand, defy him to get up now and proelaim his dissent and his recreancy. No one rises. Then I am to infer that no such person exists ; and I hope that we shall hear no more of the charge of usurpation against the committee whose names are signed to that noble Whig document. Sir, I have thus briefly glanced at the history of the extra session. And does any thing in that history go to show that the Whigs were actuated by a spirit of factious opposi-
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tion to the President ? Who are they who, pretending to be Whigs and friends of the President, have thwarted every Executive recom- mendation and every measure of relief to the country ? The gentle- man from Virginia and his friends and allies of the guard.
"Sir, in view of the evils and calamities brought upon the country by the President, may not the patriot from his heart of hearts invoke the poet's curse upon him ?---
' Oh for a tongue to curse the slave, Whose treason, like a deadly blight, Comes o'er the counsels of the brave, And blasts them in their hour of night !'
"So much I have thought it necessary to say of the President and his official conduct. I now pass to the consideration of other matters connected with the honor and independence of Congress. We are told by a gentleman in the city of New York, in an address to a meeting of merchants, brokers, and bankers of that city, gotten up for the purpose of glorifying Mr. Tyler's administration, and heaping abuse upon a Whig Congress, among other things, 'that beggars should not be choosers ; that we can get nothing else, and therefore we must take whatever Mr. Tyler is pleased to give us!' Sir, is there any member upon this floor, of any party, who can listen to this language with other than feelings of deep and burning indignation ? Beggars, forsooth ! Who are beggars? The People and the People's repre- sentatives-the American Congress ! And of whom shall they beg? Of John Tyler, into whose nostrils the Whigs breathed the breath of political vitality-of him whose treachery has rnined the party who placed him in power, and blighted and blasted the prosperity of the nation for long, long years to come !
" What is the American Congress that it should be thus degraded ? Who gave force, efficiency, and impulse to that mighty, moral, intellect- ual, and political revolution which freed this country, and shook to their center the hereditary thrones of Europe's despots ? An American Congress. Who devised means for paying off the immense debt of the Revolution ? An American Congress. Who, when our national exis- tence was threatened, our honor invaded, our seamen impressed, our flag insulted, grappled successfully with the first power in the world- Napoleon's conqueror ? An American Congress. Who devised those beneficent measures, the good effects of which every where beautify and adorn our country ? An American Congress. To what point has the patriot turned his eye in every dark period in our national exis- tence ? To the people's representatives, who stand erect in the con- seiousness of their honor, their power, and their patriotism, above the
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blandishments of flattery, unallured by the hope of gain, unseduced by the dreams of ambition, unawed by the frowns of power. We are told here, and the charge is repeated in every hired press from Maine to New Orleans, that we are determined to do nothing-that this is the do-nothing Congress. Why this effort to disparage Congress, and throw the odium of failure of every measure upon the body ? The reason is apparent-they seek to divert public attention from their own conduct, and to direct it to Congress. But they shall not escape in that way ; the People shall be the judges between us. The People will, when they understand the facts, determine who have adhered to their principles through every change, ' through evil as well as through good report,' and who have basely abandoned their party, their prin- ciples, their country. Mr. Tyler's friends in their great devotion to their great chief, lave compared him to Napoleon. 'Ye gods and little fishes !' John Tyler and Napoleon Bonaparte !
" Mr. Chairman, is it not surprising that, in casting about for some one to compare their great leader to, the fame of one of Philadelphia's great military men should have escaped their memory-I mean the immortal Col. Pluck? He, with his bantam feather, his tin sword and his bullet buttons, surely resembles their idol as much as their idol resembles the hero of Austerlitz, Jena, and Lodi's bridge. And Mr. Chairman, is it not wondrous strange that they have overlooked the claims of one of Shakspeare's commanders-I mean Col. John Fal- staff? Cau you not recognize the resemblance between him and their chieftain ? You remember Falstaff's regiment of ragged recruits. Who are Mr. Tyler's recruits ? Office-holders, office-seekers, Government contractors, hired editors, and those who are called . the guard' upon this floor. Falstaff was ashamed to march through town with his regiment ; it remains to be seen whether Mr. Tyler has an equal sense of shame.
" But again : We are told by gentlemen that, if the President and his Cabinet can not get good laws passed, they will at least recommend good measures, and present good issues to the country ! Before I stop to inquire what good measures the Cabinet have recommended, let us inquire what their recommendation is worth ? What importance let me ask, can be attached to the recommendation of the Secretary of State-Mr. Webster? What was his conduct at a time when this country was engaged in a war with England? I refer to his votes, from an inspection of the journals of this House. I have had but little time to devote to their examination, but am satisfied with the correct- ness of my references. July 1, 1813, he voted against a bill for asses- sing and collecting taxes to sustain the war. July 9th he voted against laying a tax on refined sugar and sales at auction-a measure intended
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to raise revenue. July 7th, 1814, against a bill to sustain the Navy. The 11th of the same month, against a bill which, among other things provided for punishing spies. The 22d of January, he voted against a bill to enlist troops during the war, in a minority of seven. On the 25th of January, 1814, against the nonimportation law. February 8, 1814, against raising five regiments. March 29, against calling out the militia to repel invasion. December 1st, against providing reve- nue for sustaining the public credit. December 10th, against calling on the States for their quotas of militia to defend the frontiers. On the 19th of December, against a bill to provide for the expenses of the war. He also voted against a bill to provide for rebuilding the Capitol, after it was burned by the British. Sir, I leave the record of these votes with- out comment, and pass to Mr. Webster's present position. But, if it is asked why I have not brought Mr. Webster's votes up in judgment before this time, my answer is, that after the war, for a long period of time, Mr. Webster seemed devoted to the best interests of the country, and I in common with hundreds of others, hoped and believed that he had repented of his former errors, and changed his opinions and prin- ciples ; but his recent conduct has proved to me that he remains unchanged, and that his seeming change of course, was only affecta- tion. He was appointed to office by Gen. Harrison, and when the other members of the Cabinet resigned their stations with scorn and disgust, Mr. Webster loved his office better than his country-his emoluments more than honor. That Mr. Webster is a man of great . intellect and transcendent abilities no one will deny ; but what shall we think of that man who remains part of a Cabinet whose head vetoes two bank charters, while he is the great bank champion ? Does the Secretary of State dispense the patronage of his office so as to merit or receive the support of Whigs? No, sir; look to his selections of newspapers to publish the laws. He selects the most vindictive parti- san presses in the Locofoco party. Witness the papers selected in Illinois, the St. Louis Bulletin, the Nashville Union, the New Orleans Advertiser, and a great many others which might be enumerated. All the editors patronized by Mr Webster, so far as I know, with but few exceptions are either Democratic, or they are renegades from the Whig ranks to the Tyler party ; and his appointments to office are even worse than his selection of newspapers.
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